Houzz Tour: Light Pours Into a Modern Minnesota Retreat
A contemporary vacation home in the woods takes in views of the sky, trees and a nearby lake
Strand chose a dark and subtle exterior palette to help the home blend into the forested landscape. The exterior materials include concrete panels, exposed poured concrete, cedar soffits and bonderized steel panels that look like zinc. The black portions are vertical-grain Douglas fir with a black Rubio Monocoat dye and topcoat to mimic the look of shou sugi ban, or Japanese charred wood.
Inside the front entry, white walls and white oak provide a clean, bright contrast to the home’s moody, subdued exterior. The curved bench in the entry was custom-crafted by Tandem Made in Minneapolis.
Browse wood benches
Browse wood benches
The dining room features a concrete floor and large bifold doors designed to “focus the view to the lake,” Strand says. The ceiling is cedar with a clear matte finish. Floor-to-ceiling slats of cedar separate the dining room from an adjacent hallway that has built-in cabinets.
Light fixture: Lindsey Adelman; table and chairs: Bensen
Light fixture: Lindsey Adelman; table and chairs: Bensen
The lounge, opposite from the dining area, acts as a four-season room. It features a Nana wall window system and two infrared heaters in the ceiling for cold Minnesota winters. The floor is rift-cut white oak. A collection of contemporary indoor-outdoor furniture holds up well to wet bathing suits straight from the lake.
The open kitchen features a mix of white and rift-sawn white oak cabinetry. The countertops are covered in white quartz and the walls are all white to keep the space bright. “There aren’t any dark areas inside,” Strand says. “We wanted the interior to be bright, energized and warm.”
Countertops: HanStone
Countertops: HanStone
The vanity wall in the powder room is covered in vertical-grain Douglas fir with a black Rubio Monocoat dye, which again mimics the charred look of Japanese shou sugi ban. A skylight in the ceiling and a rift-sawn white oak floating vanity keeps the room light and bright.
The two-story-high living room features a dramatic concrete-block fireplace. The Pella windows allow in natural light, overlook the lake and look down the path toward the grandparents’ house. The fireplace “brings the exterior concrete inside and creates a big volume of fire that can actually heat the house,” Strand says.
Simple and serene, the master bedroom is integrally connected to the site via large windows that frame the forest. “The windows have a white oak sitting edge or sill for aesthetic reasons, as the wood warms up the room,” Strand says.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two young children use this as a vacation home
Location: Northern Minnesota
Size: 4,500 square feet (418 square meters)
Designer: David Strand of Strand Design
Having somewhere to vacation “Up North” is an integral part of Minnesota culture. So the patriarch of a family purchased a large tract of land in northern Minnesota near a pristine lake. He divided it up, creating a second home for himself and another for guests, and gave this lot to his son to build a vacation house for his young family.
Architect David Strand designed the house to have two wings separated by a central corridor. One wing is for living and includes a large living room and a kitchen, and the other wing includes bedrooms and baths. Built above the lake, the home contours the landscape, blurring the distinction between the built and natural environments. “We nestled the house into the site to take in the sky, trees and water in the distance,” Strand says.